science fiction

The Pride of Chanur – C. J. Cherryh (reread)

Published on November 24, 2010

Cover of The Pride of Chanur

The Pride of Chanur
C. J. Cherryh
224 pages
published in 1981

I’ve read and reviewed The Pride of Chanur before, way back in 2001. That’s only three sentences long though, so high time for a reread and a proper review, especially as I’m trying to read more women sf writers this year, having discovered how unbalanced my reading was. Rereading old favourites like this one seemed a good way to start. Even if it did make me dream of kissing a Kif at Kefh.

The Pride of Chanur is a trade ship run by Hani –a race of bipedal intelligent lions– of the Chanur house/clan, captained by Pyanfar Chanur. She’s doing the rounds of her ship, currently docked at Meetpoint, the big interspecies trading station run by the stsho, when something speeds past her into the ship. At first thinking it some kind of animal escaped from another ship, it turns out to be sapient, but “naked-hided, blunth-toothed and blunt-fingered” unlike any species she knows, something that after careful questioning calls itself human and turns out to have escaped Kif custody, the Kif being a particularly nasty race of black robed, grey skinned, long snouted pirates and thiefs. She refuses to hand it –him– over to them and the result is she and her ship have to flee Meetpoint, one step ahead of the murderous Kif, who in the process blow up and murder another Hani ship…

Shards of Honor – Lois Mc Master Bujold (reread)

Published on November 14, 20101 Comment

Cover of Shards of Honor

Shards of Honor
Lois McMaster Bujold
313 pages
published in 1986

I’ve reviewed Shards of Honor before, way back in 2001. Chronologically it’s the earliest story in the Vorkosigan series, with the exception of Falling Free. It is also the earliest published novel in the series and was based on an idea Bujold had for a Star Trek story. In the original story, the roles of Aral and Cordelia would’ve been played by a Klingon warrior and a Vulcan scientist; you can still sort of see the traces of this in the published book.

Cordelia Naismith is the captain of a Betan Planetary Survey Mission investigating a newly discovered planet, when her expedition is attacked by a Barrayaran force. She’s stunned and when she comes to she’s alone with the leader of that force, Aral Vorkosigan, left behind for death by his own internal enemies. They negotiate an uneasy truce to try and survive on a hostile planet to reach a survial cache left behind by the Barrayarans. After a long and ardeous trek they reach the cache, but something unexpected has happened in the meantime: they’ve fallen in love.

Diplomatic Immunity – Lois McMaster Bujold

Published on November 9, 2010

Cover of the Diplomatic Immunity

Diplomatic Immunity
Lois McMaster Bujold
367 pages
published in 2002

Rereading Diplomatic Immunity on the heels of Komarr and A Civil Campaign drove home how conventional and slight it was compared to those two novels. It’s as if Bujold, having lost her nerve after having written two somewhat unusual novels, decided to go back to a tried and true formula of getting Miles into trouble and letting him dig his way out of it. Of course, she had also started her fantasy series at this point, so a more charitable explenation is that she had simply lost interest in Miles Vorkosigan and only wrote this to please her fans.

In any case Diplomatic Immunity is a bit disappointing. Nothing wrong with it as a story, but it misses the sociological insights and character depth of the previous two novels. What’s more, we only see things from Miles’ point of view, again unlike Komarr and A Civil Campaign. Which means that Ekaterin is demoted from co-protagonist to supporting character and worse, barely present. It’s Miles’ show all the way and Ekaterin is only there to lend moral support. Which is a criminal waste: she is what made Komarr and A Civil Campaign so good, as intriguing and strong a character as Miles himself. This novel would’ve been so much better if Bujold had let Ekaterin play an equal important part in the plot as Miles.

The plot itself is discussed in my original review. Sufficient to say that I’d largely forgotten it in the six years since. It’s compelling enough while reading, but ultimately on the slight side. I think I was right to describe it then as an exercise in nostalgia, a last look at Miles before Bujold went on to greener pastures, even though a new novel, Cryoburn has been published since.

Komarr – Lois McMaster Bujold

Published on November 4, 20101 Comment

Cover of Komarr

Komarr
Lois McMaster Bujold
311 pages
published in 1998

Komarr was the first Miles Vorkosigan book I’d ever read, back in 1998. At the time it was the latest in the series to have been published and deliberately written as a jump on point for new readers like me. I didn’t jump in completely ignorant however, as the Vorkosigan series was one of the favourite series of rec.arts.sf.written, which each new novel thoroughly dissected and discussed. It was these discussions that prompted me to finally pick up one of the series and luckily, it was the perfect starting point.

What I missed about Komarr the first time around was how feminist it is in its own right. It’s not an overtly political book, but the heart of the story is how one woman manages to escape from a bad marriage and the gender assumptions, traditions and expectations she grew up with. It’s her story that makes Komarr special, in what otherwise would’ve been a fun but unremarkable adventure science fiction story. As I’ve realised since, Lois Bujold has always been good at infusing even her slightest science fiction with subtle sociological backgrounds, imagining what effects the usual genre props might actually have on a society. So for example, the coming of Galactic gender assignment technologies to backward Barrayar has lead to a glut of males, as tradition values male heirs more than costly daughters and every family scrambled to make sure they got their quota of males. It’s something that has happened in the real world as well, not that outrageous a prediction to be sure, but Bujold pulls that sort of thing all the time, hidden in plain view in the background to Miles’ adventures.

All You Need Is KILL – Hiroshi Sakurazaka

Published on October 11, 2010

All You Need Is KILL

All You Need Is KILL
Hiroshi Sakurazaka & Alexander O. Smith (translator)
381 pages
published in 2004

James Nicoll was casting about for science fiction books to read one day last week and got pointed in the direction of Haikasoru Books, a newish line of translated Japanese science fiction, found something to his liking and posted about it, as well as a poll on which Haikasoru title to read next. All of which explains why I was pulled towards the cover of All You Need is Kill when I saw it in a local bookstore. Since James liked the Haikasoru that he got and I trust his taste, that was enough reason for me to take a chance on this. I wasn’t disappointed.

What I got with All You Need is KILL is a fast paced, short novel (only 200 pages) that takes two old, familiar science fiction concepts and mashes them up into something new: Starship Troopers meets Groundhog Day. Earth has been invaded by the alien Mimics, seemingly non-sapient but still with the ability to learn from their mistakes and most of the poorer part of the world has been overrun already. Keiji Kiriya is just one recruit given a short training, shoved into a battlesuit called a Jacket, sent out to defend Japan from the Mimics then dying in his first battle — only to wake up in his bunk the day before.